Disability and Development

The chronic and vicious cycle of disability and poverty is a critical threat to the eradication of poverty and the enhancement of sustainable development in several of the world's poorest regions. Many poverty reduction strategies and ambitious development projects that seek to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and a critical reduction in poverty around the world fail to capture the necessity of incorporating the needs of people with disabilities, and their voices, in the design and implementation of these programs.

Studies have shown that a majority of existing Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) papers fail to address the needs of people with disabilities, and often relegate disability issues to side programs without considering them within the mainstream strategies targeted at the general population. Additionally there is a significant lack of monitoring and evaluations of benefits and outcomes of PRS for people with disabilities.

Exclusion from mainstream reforms and systems has marginalized people with disabilities for generations, and it is vital that measures aiming to improve well-being and standards of living, reducing poverty, and increasing means of economic sustenance include them at every stage of the process. Development projects centered on disability issues, such as special education schools, tend to be fragmented, and mostly relegated to select ministries or departments.

However, it is critical to note that people with disabilities need access to all dimensions of poverty reduction mechanisms and infrastructure such as water supply, sanitation, and transportation. Due to the need to consider and include them in general development projects, Inclusive Development is increasingly recognized as a key component of successful and sustainable development.

The social and environmental obstacles that marginalize and impoverish disabled people cannot be dissolved by any one kind of entity or organization, but only through the collaborative efforts of diverse stakeholders, including developing countries, bilateral and multilateral donors, United Nations (UN) agencies, national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), foundations, and other stakeholders.

Yet the idea of mainstreaming disability into the economic development agenda is a novel concept to many foreign assistance providers, developing country governments, and even NGOs. There is often a disconnect between the people who are knowledgeable about international economic development and foreign assistance on the one hand and disability on the other.